LOOP Mentors Capacity Programme
What is LOOP Mentors Capacity Programme?
The LOOP Mentors Capacity Programme aims to provide teachers with opportunities to diversify their roles by serving as mentors to their peers and supporting their induction. The training of mentors is a crucial factor in ensuring the successful implementation of the induction programme.
At whom it is aimed?
This programme is designed for a group of experienced and dedicated teachers who are recognized by their peers as competent and responsible professionals.
How it is structured?
The LOOP Mentors Capacity Programme includes 12 modules divided into 3 blocks (Click on each link to go to the module group):
How it is delivered?
- Focused well-defined objectives, yet flexible enough to adjust to national contexts and specific needs.
- Adaptable to differences in national contexts and the group of mentors during programme implementation.
- Inclusive, as it allows for the addition and modification of activities to meet specific adaptation needs.
- Reliable, as it is the result of the collaborative work of various entities with different expertise and working groups.
- Positive, as it recognizes that competencies can be improved and all participants have the potential to change and grow.
01. ME AS A BEGINNING TEACHER: RECALLING MY PATH
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- Self-reflection on significant personal experiences as a teacher mentor
- Sharing and discussion of ideas related to those experiences
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- To enunciate the strengths of the future teacher mentor, both personally and professionally, as a way to promote the successive improvement of his/her performance
- To understand the specific needs and challenges of the teacher mentee
- To identify mentoring strategies as references for effective implementation
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
02. ME AS A TEACHER MENTOR: MISUNDERSTANDING AND EXPECTATIONS MANAGEMENT
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- Expectations towards (and for) myself
- Expectations towards my environment
- Expectations towards my teacher mentee
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- To develop a realistic understanding of teachers mentors’ roles
- To start to explore effective approaches to mentoring
- To develop an effective expectations management strategy
- To identify and resolve misunderstandings more easily within the teacher mentor – teacher mentee relationship
- To easily create common goals and set boundaries
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
03. SELF-REFLECTION AT THE CORE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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- Levels of self-reflection: surface self-reflection, depth self-reflection.
- Bateson’s model of neurological levels
- Personal philosophy of professional action
- Methods of reflection (reflection on experiences – broadest framework, reflection on critical events, Socratic questions)
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- To be aware of the quality and frequency of self-reflective practice in their daily professional lives,
- To deep teachers mentors’ understanding of the role of critical self-reflection and self-evaluation in personal and professional development
- To promote learning about, role-play, and evaluate some models that guide self-reflective thinking in the face of concrete professional challenges and dilemmas
- To contribute to deciding about how to encourage their teacher mentee to engage in systematic self-reflection.
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
04. TEACHING FOR GROWTH MINDSET
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- What is a growth mindset?
- Growth mindset language
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- To understand the influence of a growth mindset on the person and the environment
- To know the language of a growth mindset
- To understand how to develop a growth mindset in education through simple interventions
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
05. COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
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- Effective listening and questioning techniques applied to the mentoring relationship.
- Tips and strategies to provide and receive feedback.
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- To understand the value of active listening and use techniques to strengthen this ability
- To be able to use the questioning technique to guide, have a conversation and empower teachers mentees
- To understand and be able of receiving and transmitting feedback
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
06. EMPATHETIC LISTENING IN THE CONTEXT OF NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION
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- Theory of nonviolent communication: observing, feelings, needs, and request
- Empathic listening
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- To deep knowledge of the theory of nonviolent communication (M. R. Rosenberg, 2003)
- To raise awareness of teacher mentor’ communication style, strengths and weaknesses according to criteria/principles of nonviolent communication
- To train the use of principles of nonviolent communication in mentoring process with the accent on empathic listening
- To think about nonviolent communication in the teacher mentor-teacher mentee relationship:
- how to support the teacher mentee in self-reflection on his/her communication in the classroom
- how to direct teachers mentees’ attention to supporting students in developing nonviolent communication skills
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
07. MANAGING STRESSFUL SITUATIONS
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- The evolution and symptoms of stress
- Systematically identifying coping strategies and pathways (the balance wheel)
- Discussion of possible problems and their solution using the pyramid of logical levels (R. Dilts)
- Self-reflection on explanatory style (M. Seligman)
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- To present common stressors that teachers face in their work
- To sensitize for the recognition of stress symptoms
- To learn constructive coping strategies to deal with stress at different stages of its duration
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
08. ROLE OF THE TEACHER MENTOR
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- Role of the teacher mentor
- Responsibility in the mentoring relationship
- Ethics and mentoring: a close relationship
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- To define the guidelines for action, give security to the teacher mentor and ensure the conditions for a good mentoring relationship
- To empower the teachers mentors with knowledge and techniques to help them fully accomplish their responsibilities, within the framework of their rights and duties
- To guarantee the existence of a transversal action pattern based on the anticipation of solutions for specific issues, thus ensuring a good working environment and the satisfaction of those involved
- To value and dignify professionals and organisations by creating reference standards that contribute to strengthening their professional and organisational identity
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
09. DIFFERENT TYPES OF MENTORING AND HOW TO USE THEM
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- Preparation and presentation of simulations exemplifying different types of mentoring
- Joint analysis and debate on the benefits and disadvantages of each type of mentoring in education
- Discussion in a large group on how teachers mentors can benefit from the different types of mentoring in the induction programme
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- To know and identify the different types of mentoring
- To recognise the characteristics, benefits and disadvantages of the different types of mentoring
- To select and adopt the adequate type of mentoring by the context and objectives of the mentoring relationship
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
10. MENTORING RELATIONSHIP STAGES
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- The four phases of a teacher’s mentoring relationship
- Strategies, checklists and tips to help guide teacher mentors’ progress in each phase of the mentoring relationship.
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- To identify the different stages of a mentoring relationship and the specific steps that lead to mentoring excellence
- To promote strategies to get to know the teacher mentee(s) and establish a professional relationship
- To challenge the teacher mentor to think in new ways
- To get to know strategies to come to a closure of the mentoring relationship
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
11. ESTABLISHING A PROFESSIONAL NETWORK
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- The steps involved in the creation of professional networks
- Key areas of discussion and reflection in the sharing of practices and experiences among teachers mentors
- Shared Leadership: definition, challenges, and opportunities
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- To identify and understand the key stages involved in the creation of a professional network
- To make teachers mentors competent professionals in the organization of networks though the development of a dedicated action plan
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
12. WHAT IS THE TEACHER INDUCTION PROGRAMME AND HOW TO USE IT
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Presentation of the programme
- History behind the programme (and a bit of the future too)
- The main concepts of the programme
- Structure of the programme
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- To Present the LOOP project as a whole, the origins of the programme and the upcoming steps
- To present the teachers’ induction programme and familiarise teacher mentor with it to ensure that they would later feel comfortable using it
- Ensure that the teacher mentor understands the TIP as a modular, non-binding and adaptable toolbox, with materials that must be adapted to themselves and their teachers mentees
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You can download the relevant material and exercises here:
Project LOOP- Empowering teachers personal, professional and social continuous development through innovative peer-induction programmes (626148-EPP-1- 2020-2- PT-EPPKA3-PI-POLICY)
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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